Helen Thomas

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has given wife Laura a tall order: Guide youth at risk, especially boys, away from gangs. It is a worthy cause and follows the tradition of many former first ladies who have focused on a particular social problem and raised its public profile.

Nancy Reagan worked against drug abuse among youth with her “Just Say No,” campaign; Barbara Bush pushed literacy; Rosalynn Carter worked for better treatment of the mentally afflicted; Betty Ford championed the Equal Rights Amendment for women; Lady Bird Johnson campaigned for national beautification; Pat Nixon was an advocate for volunteerism; Hillary Clinton worked for universal health insurance and Jacqueline Kennedy made historic preservation her special cause.

Eleanor Roosevelt -- the most compassionate of them all -- embraced campaigns to fight poverty and racism.

There are a lot of things that Laura Bush can do to spotlight the growing problem of youth gangs. For starters, the first lady should look at some programs that her husband’s administration wants to cut from the federal budget next year.

For example, the president wants to slice money for an eminently worthy program that starts preparing under-privileged middle school students -- sixth and seventh graders -- and works with them all the way through high school to bring them up to college-entry level. The program -- called GEAR UP -- is now in its sixth year. It serves 1.4 million children from low-income families. Its current federal budget is $308 million -- a drop in the bucket compared to the spending for new weapons and the war in Iraq. The private sector, foundations, businesses, universities and communities match that sum.

It is a hands-on program involving, teachers, tutors and parents to get young people ready for college. Dr. Hector Garza -- head of the National Council of Community and Education Partnerships -- said ending the program “flies in the face of the president’s rhetoric about focusing education reform efforts on helping our neediest students improve academically in high school.” Garza said “to kill the program just doesn’t make sense.” GEAR UP has been successful “because we did the research that showed the students needed help in math, science, reading as well as technical competence,” he explained.

The first class which rose from the seventh grade to the 12th grade is getting for college this year.

A community receiving a GEAR UP grant focuses a lot of its efforts on housing for the disadvantaged in ghettos, barrios and other neighborhoods that are breeding grounds for gangs. Administration officials contend they are only putting programs on the chopping block that are ineffective. But GEAR UP is popular -- and it works.

When Garza held a news conference in Philadelphia Monday to protest the cuts, there was a huge turnout of demonstrators holding signs reading: “Don’t Mess with GEAR UP” and “Teachers Need GEAR UP.”

The first lady would do well to lobby her husband to preserve this program. Street gangs have proliferated in recent years, and many of them are violent and drug-related. The National Center for Juvenile Justice -- part of the U.S. Justice Department -- said its last national survey, made in 2002, showed there were 21,500 youth gangs in the country.

Social workers and police authorities say teens join gangs for a variety of reasons. They could be seeking excitement, recognition, protection, money, or fulfilling the need to belong. National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, part of the federal Centers for Disease Control, said youth gangs are linked with serious crime problems in elementary and secondary schools, and added: “There is a strong relationship between the presence of gangs and both guns and drugs in schools.”

The White House said statistics show that boys are at greater risk than girls for learning disabilities, illiteracy, dropping out of school, substance abuse, juvenile arrest and early death caused by violent behavior. “Boys often begin to fall behind girls in elementary school, which leads to dropout rates and juvenile delinquency . . . as they grow older, risk behaviors, including alcohol and drug abuse, become more prevalent,” the White House said in a statement.

As she prepares to preach the good word in the gang-ridden communities, the first lady -- a former educator -- should take a look at what social programs have been slashed from the next budget that will make her job easier. GEAR UP helps needy children put higher education on their horizons. It is a program that deserves to be funded.

(Helen Thomas can be reached at 202-263-6400 or at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com)

(c) 2004 Hearst Newspapers